The attacker took a dagger-like object from his pocket and chased them yelling… ‘All Jews are the devil’ and ‘All Jews must die.’
By Shula Rosen
Florida police arrested a suspect originally from Jordan for allegedly attacking Jews in the area and are considering treating the incidents as suspected hate crimes, according to Local 10 News.
Mohamed Al Saccal (39) threatened an Orthodox Jewish couple in Sunny Isles Beach as they were headed to a synagogue on the Sabbath.
As he approached them, Al Saccal withdrew a sharp, dagger-like object from his pocket and chased them yelling… ‘All Jews are the devil’ and ‘All Jews must die,” reported police sergeant Brain Schnell.
The suspect was arrested and taken to the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department for questioning about that incident and others involving as many as seven Jewish residents.
Al Saccal is currently being held for aggravated assault and police are investigating possibly upgrading the charges to hate crimes.
“We are not by any means, going to tolerate any type of crime geared towards hate or a specific group regardless of what’s going on in the world, regardless of what side this person is on,” Schnell said.
Antisemitic attacks have grown globally since the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7th that led to the murder of 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 250 others.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic hate crimes in the United States have increased by 360% since October 2023.
“The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO.
He added, “It’s shocking that we’ve recorded more antisemitic acts in three months than we usually would in an entire year.”
The ADL found that there were 3,283 reported antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7 and Jan 7th, which included 60 physical assaults, 533 acts of vandalism, 1,353 cases of verbal or written harassment, and 1,317 rallies during which antisemitic rhetoric and expressions of support for terrorism against Israel or Jews are apparent.
Greenblatt said, “In this difficult moment, antisemitism is spreading and mutating in alarming ways.”
“This onslaught of hate includes a dramatic increase in fake bomb threats that disrupt services at synagogues and put communities on edge across the country.”